User blog:Black Dragon Laguz/About my playthrough of the Ike Solo Challenge
Well, for quite some time now, I have been playing the Ike Solo Challenge, after reading about it from this blog post. It has been quite difficult for me, probably because I'm used to having a large group back me up. I am currently at chapter 13. I am playing the game on Normal Mode. The earlier chapters started out easy, but got harder as I progressed. The steel lance is the most annoying weapon for Ike to be attacked by. Even with a hit of 50%, the enemy can still hit Ike real hard with them. Here are my current stats for Ike: Ike's stats Level 20 HP: 40 (Originally 34, but I got an Seraph Robe to add cap it at 40) Str: 14 (usually, it's about 17 or 19 once I reach level 20, but Ike has been acting a bit more like a Pegasus Knight, only he's a guy and he doesn't have a mount, and his movement is definitely not as high) Mag: 7 (originally 5, but I used a stat-booster) Skl: 19 (originally 17, but I found a Secret Book and used it) Spd: 20 (I have never capped Ike's speed as a Ranger before, but his growths have been acting a little weird this time) Luk: 12 (which has been ok so far) Def: 12 (could be higher, but oh well, it's still ok) Res: 6 (his resistance turned out nice) Con: 11 Other things And those are Ike's stats. My current strategy has been to sell everyone's weapons (except for Ike's), and to sell every "band" item I get, except for the Knight Band. Currently, I have been equipping Ike with Steel Swords, his Regal Sword, and an Iron Sword. I also saved up a Laguzguard for chapters with enemy laguz. So, for now, I will post about the chapters I've reached and what I did in them (starting from chapter 12) Chapters A Strange Land Well, this is that chapter where your ship hits a reef and becomes immobilized. And then all those Ravens come flying down to attack you and stuff. When Ike started this chapter, the only differences in his current stats were his skill being 17 and his HP being 34. So I stood around, waiting to be attacked by the Ravens. Eventually, Jill came on the map, and she had a vulnerary, a Wyvern Band (which I sold for money), a Laguzguard (which I traded over to Ike), and a Steel Lance (which I sold for money). I was also pleasantly surprised to find that one of the Ravens had a Secret Book and that the boss had a Blue Gem. A Guiding Wind I wanted to get an Occult Scroll from one of the Ravens that would come in and steal it, but that didn't happen, because I couldn't recruit Astrid to recruit Gatrie (my plan was to place Gatrie on the space that the enemy will attempt to seize, while Ike went to get the Occult Scroll). So I placed Ike on that space instead. I didn't get to defeat Norris, but at least I won the chapter (there wasn't even a need to defeat him). Training Back at my base, I forged a special iron sword for Ike. I can't remember the name, because I made it a bunch of random numbers (I couldn't think of a cool name). I do remember the color of it though, which was yellow. Here are the weapon's stats: Mt: 9 Hit: 95 Crt: 9 The weight wasn't modified in any way. This chapter was surprisingly not too hard (I am playing on normal mode, though, but it still wasn't too hard). I placed Ike in a thicket and, if I remember correctly, he only get hit twice. After beating every enemy--except for the boss--I equipped my forged weapon and stood in a thicket. The boss's hit was only 20 and his critical wasn't...too high. I beat him in 3 hits with my forged weapon, and was surprised at how tough Ike was. The Feral Frontier This chapter wasn't too hard, since I had a laguzguard and a forged sword. But I had to strategically use my healing items, since I could only have 9 at a time with my laguzguard equipped. I also managed to get the Vague Katti. The boss was not too easy, but not too difficult. I took him out with several hits using my forged sword. The Atonement Now I've forged another sword for Ike. This one is a steel sword. Here are its stats: Mt: 13 Hit: 90 Crt: 9 Wt: 11 Well, I am still working on this chapter. I am hoping that I don't get beaten, so that I don't lose the dracoshield I found for Ike. And I I had to restart the chapter....4 times. Unfortunately, the only stat booster I could get was an Ashera Icon. That still should be helpful, though, but a dracoshield could be much better. Here are Ike's new stats: Level 20 HP: 40 Str: 14 Mag: 7 Skl: 19 Spd: 20 Luk: 14 Def: 12 Res: 6 (ugh!! His resistance is terrible now) Con: 11 Day Breaks I am starting Day Breaks now. I sold my other forged swords and now I have a slim sword that I forged for Ike. Here are it's stats: Mt: 8 (same as a steel sword, so it's okay) Hit: 125 Crt: 14 I named the sword "BadGuyKiller". I am not sure how I'm going to make it through these chapters with just Ike, since I don't have any access to the base (that means I can't buy any swords or healing items). These chapters have been getting insanely difficult... So good thing Ike is going to promote soon.